Could Mariah Carey-Nicki Minaj ‘Feud’ Spark ‘American Idol’?

PASADENA — Real-life feuding between Mariah Carey and Nicki Minaj is helping reinvigorate the formula for Fox’s “American Idol” as the talent contest goes into its 12th season, the new show judges and its producers acknowledged Tuesday.

“This is a very passionate panel, there are a lot of very strong personalities,” Ms. Carey told TV critics and reporters at the Television Critics Association’s press conference.

Ms. Carey, clad in a slight, Kelly green slip dress and feathered stilettos, downplayed suggestions that the rumored fights had been made up in order to reinvigorate the show, which has shown signs of graying after more than a decade on air. “It’s bigger than some stupid, trumped up thing,” she said.

Ms. Carey and Ms. Minaj were hired last year as two of the new judges for “Idol,” accompanying country star Keith Urban and veteran judge Randy Jackson, a former bass player for the band Journey, on the panel. Reports quickly surfaced that Ms. Carey and Ms. Minaj were at odds with one another, fueling media anticipation about the pending season.

“I think the takeaway is that they don’t always get along, but they also don’t lose sleep about it,” show host Ryan Seacrest told The Wall Street Journal on the sidelines of the conference.

Fox executives are attempting to spice up the formula for “Idol” in hopes of lifting its ratings, which have faded somewhat as the show ages and faces new competition, including from NBC’s “The Voice” and Fox’s own “The X Factor.” Fox is owned by News Corp., which also owns The Wall Street Journal.

“There’s too many of these shows on air and they are taking each other down a bit,” said Mike Darnell, Fox’s president of alternative entertainment. Mr. Darnell and other company executives have previously been open about saying that anything that gets people talking about “Idol” could be good for its ratings.

Last season, the audience at “Idol” shrank to nearly half of the 31 million viewers who tuned in during its heyday back in 2006, although it still remained the most popular show on TV outside of sports.

Kevin Reilly, the head of Fox Entertainment, admitted Tuesday that Fox had “limped” into 2013, after its ratings tumbled to last place among the broadcast networks for the fall season. “We’re struggling because we didn’t put out a big hit,” Mr. Reilly said, adding he hoped the current year would be better for the network.

Fox usually starts the season with soft ratings before rebounding on top in the 18-to-49-year-old age group most prized by advertisers, but Mr. Reilly reiterated Tuesday that Fox wouldn’t come in first this time around. “We’re not going to be at the top of the ratings.”

Aside from “Idol,” new Fox shows such as “The Mindy Project” and “Ben and Kate” have struggled to find big audiences. There are also signs that growing viewership of online video and other alternatives is hurting traditional television, resulting in lower ratings for all the broadcast networks. “Our ability to market and measure to those audiences has changed dramatically,” Mr. Reilly said.

Fox was presenting the upcoming season of “Idol” at the TCA in Pasadena, a semi-annual gathering where TV executives and stars pitch their upcoming shows.

The other heavily-hyped Fox show for the spring season is “The Following,” a drama starring Kevin Bacon about an agent from the Federal Bureau of Investigation who comes out of retirement to chase a serial killer.

While “Idol” was the focal point of Tuesday’s presentation, the day’s biggest applause arguably came as one critic remarked about the “chemistry” between Mr. Bacon and the show’s executive producer, Kevin Williamson. To much laughter, Mr. Bacon and Mr. Williamson indulged the comments with a joking, on-stage smooch.